Why did the Neanderthals go extinct?

What is the current scientific theory about why the Neanderthals went extinct?
What is your theory about the matter?

In the Thread 128985 page 5 it was 'discussed', laughed at with no reason, but as it is not the main topic in that thread I start another one to duscuss this matter in particular.

Read again, that was not what was laughed at.

I've heard a number of women speak on this subject...according to them, there are plenty of Neanderthals still lurking around...more so on weekends.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
What is the current scientific theory about why the Neanderthals went extinct?
What is your theory about the matter?

In the Thread 128985 page 5 it was 'discussed', laughed at with no reason, but as it is not the main topic in that thread I start another one to duscuss this matter in particular.

I seem to remember from the excellent BBC series that Neanderthals were simply out-competed by Homosapiens. They bred more slowly, lived in smaller groups and were less adaptable to climate change. That being said Neanderthals were an incredibly successful species.

Apparently Neanderthals lived side by side with Homo Sapiens for some time and the recent suggestion of inter-breeding is interesting.

Originally posted by TheBloop
I've heard a number of women speak on this subject...according to them, there are plenty of Neanderthals still lurking around...more so on weekends.

So according to them the Neanderthals can't propagate because there are no female Neanderthals?
Well, that's a theory...

One 'scientific' theory says that the Neanderthals was hunted down by the Cro Mignons. Can it be any substance in this theory?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
What is the current scientific theory about why the Neanderthals went extinct?
What is your theory about the matter?

In the Thread 128985 page 5 it was 'discussed', laughed at with no reason, but as it is not the main topic in that thread I start another one to duscuss this matter in particular.

I saw a lecture by Richard Dawkins recently, and he thought it was probably due to homo sapiens.

Originally posted by forkedknight
I saw a lecture by Richard Dawkins recently, and he thought it was probably due to homo sapiens.

What did *we* do to the poor things?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
So according to them the Neanderthals can't propagate because there are no female Neanderthals?
Well, that's a theory...

One 'scientific' theory says that the Neanderthals was hunted down by the Cro Mignons. Can it be any substance in this theory?

My understanding is that this is not an idea that is taken seriously by anthropologists.

Cro-Magnon had better technology and outcompeted Neandertal I think. For example, Neandertal had no javelins. Their diet was less varied too...pretty much all meat.

They were also less mobile. Much stronger, but less able to run and walk easily.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
My understanding is that this is not an idea that is taken seriously by anthropologists.

Cro-Magnon had better technology and outcompeted Neandertal I think. For example, Neandertal had no javelins. Their diet was less varied too...pretty much all meat.

They were also less mobile. Much stronger, but less able to run and walk easily.

As an archaeologist...

There is some evidence (albeit arguable) to suggest that Neanderthals or their predecessors did possess projectile spear technology (Boxgrove c.500kbp, Schoningen c.400kbp, Clacton c.400kbp, Lehringen c.125kbp). Latest thinking suggest that Neanderthal diet may not have been significantly different from early modern man (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/neanderthals-diets/index.html).

It is often suggested that Neanderthals did not adapt so rapidly as early moderns, at least, not until early moderns were sharing their living space, but recent work has often argued against this as well.

Skeletal evidence does suggest that moderns would have been better suited to rapid ambulation, but this is based on very small samples and may be fallacious also.

Currently it is very difficult to find evidence to show any significant advantage for moderns over Neanderthals.

Still, the best guess remains competitive exclusion, as it would only take a very slight advantage to see them squeezed out of living space by moderns over the timespans involved.

Could equally be something else though - naked hostility, disease, environment etc. More evidence required!

How strong is the evidence that Neanderthal was all that different? If you consider C19 European views that non Europeans were inferior races ... perhaps contemporary views of Neanderthal reflect a bizarre form of anachronistic racism. (But the evidence first, please.)

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
How strong is the evidence that Neanderthal was all that different? If you consider C19 European views that non Europeans were inferior races ... perhaps contemporary views of Neanderthal reflect a bizarre form of anachronistic racism. (But the evidence first, please.)

They can tell by the morphology of the skeletons, they are built a lot differently than modern man. They can tell for instance, they could not have been able to run very fast, but they would have been a lot stronger physically. It's not a nazi kind of thing but analysis based on data taken from years of comparisons of skeletal remains and the tools they were found with. You can see the differences for yourself in this side by side comparison:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/83/77983-004-EA7EC442.jpg

Look at how we as a species have treated each other, then look at how we treat other species on this planet. I can't see us treating Neanderthals any different.

Originally posted by sonhouse
They can tell by the morphology of the skeletons, they are built a lot differently than modern man. They can tell for instance, they could not have been able to run very fast, but they would have been a lot stronger physically. It's not a nazi kind of thing but analysis based on data taken from years of comparisons of skeletal remains and the tools they wer ...[text shortened]... ide by side comparison:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/83/77983-004-EA7EC442.jpg

how much overlap between neanderthals and people who look like neanderthals?

Originally posted by sonhouse
They can tell by the morphology of the skeletons, they are built a lot differently than modern man. They can tell for instance, they could not have been able to run very fast, but they would have been a lot stronger physically. It's not a nazi kind of thing but analysis based on data taken from years of comparisons of skeletal remains and the tools they wer ...[text shortened]... ide by side comparison:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/83/77983-004-EA7EC442.jpg

It's not certain whether they should be classified as a separate species or a sub species.

The Wikipedia entry suggests that they were done in by climate change ...

Originally posted by FabianFnas
What is the current scientific theory about why the Neanderthals went extinct?
What is your theory about the matter?

Well, after reading about it a very little, I tend to think that Homo sap neanderthalensis as a distinctive sub species was killed off by climate change. Like the mammoth. If they could breed with homo sap sap, the remaining few would have been assimilated.